Month: September 2006

ENNIS once again enhanced its reputation by landing one of the top prizes at the annual Tidy Towns competition.

At yesterday’s ceremony in Dublin Castle, Ennis was named Ireland’s tidiest large urban centre, a new category introduced for towns with a population of over 15,000. Ennis scored 288 points – nine more than last year’s total of 279.

Due to competition rules, Ennis were not in the running for the title of Ireland’s Tidiest Town as they had won last year. Ennis also won a gold medal in a category alongside Letterkenny, Kilkenny City and Malahide.

Speaking at the event, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment Mr Batt O’Keefe singled out Ennis for praise, saying it was a shining example to other large towns for the progress it had made over the years.

Judges were impressed with the wellkept entrance routes to the town, along with the standard of water features and the town’s sculpture trail.

This latest success is expected to generate significant economic benefits to the town. Mayor Joe Reidy (FF) said the win was a credit to the people of Ennis and, in particular, the efforts of staff of Ennis Town Council.

“This is a great achievement and to win in the new category was exceptional. It shows the hard work done by the committee. It is a credit to the people of Ennis especially the council staff. These people are out at 4.30 every morning, making sure the town is tidy. This really exceeded our expectation and hopefully we can build on this into the future.”

KILRUSH held its own in this year’s National Tidy Town’s competition as it retained the silver medal in Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town category.

The hard-working Tidy Towns committee received the prestigious award from the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Batt O’Keeffe TD, at a ceremony in Dublin Castle.

The west Clare capital scored 282 points this year, an increase of six on last year, to beat off competition from all over Ireland and claim the accolade.

Kilrush was also highly commended in the ‘County Award’ section.

The award marks the culmination of months of hard work by local volunteers and members of the Kilrush Tidy Town’s Committee to improve the appearance of Kilrush.

The Committee received the silver medal for the first time ever last year, having achieved a bronze medal in 2003 and again in 2004.

“Retaining the silver medal is a massive achievement for everybody involved,” said Kilrush Tidy Towns Committee Chairman, Murt Collins.

“Key to our progress in the Tidy Towns scheme has been the partnership approach that we adopted some years ago.

“There is a broad range of groups and organisations now involved in promoting and enhancing the appearance of the town, including the local Tidy Towns Committee, FAS schemes, outdoor and clerical staff from Kilrush Town Council, the local business sector, and the community of Kilrush.”

Mayor of Kilrush, Cllr Stephen O’Gorman said it was a great tribute to the local community for all the work they had done to improve the appearance of the town.

“The volunteers have toiled throughout the summer in various public areas to create and maintain flowerbeds, keeps streets tidy, cut grass and pick up litter.

“This award further enhances the status of Kilrush as a growing and prosperous town,” he said.

Kilrush Town Clerk Fiona Mooney believes taking part in the Tidy Towns competition has impacted positively on the appearance of the town.

“In recent years, Kilrush has been scoring consistently high in the areas of Overall Developmental Approach, The Built Environment, Landscaping, Wildlife and Natural Amenities, Litter Control, Tidiness, Residential Areas and General Impression.

“This improved appearance has been observed and commented upon by the many thousands of visitors to the town each summer.

“This can only have positive consequences for the town’s image and future growth.”

President of Kilrush Chamber of Commerce, Jack Kelly said, “This accolade will further enhance the town’s status as a growing business and tourist destination.”

Meanwhile, a village that is no stranger to success in the Tidy Town’s Competition – Mountshannon – was celebrating its bronze medal in the Tidiest Village category.

Newmarket-on-Fergus was also in party mode, having won the SuperValu Endeavour award.

The village received the award as it recorded the largest improvement in the county, increasing its points by 8.37 per cent.

CLARE TD, Pat Breen has received an estimate for the cost of reopening the disused Ennis to Sligo railway line.

An analysis, undertaken by transport consultants Faber Maunsell in 2005, puts the cost of a three phased reopening of the line between Ennis and Collooney at €336m.

Mr Breen says Transport Minister Martin Cullen had refused to disclose the cost but he was given the estimate, after submitting a Freedom of Information Act enquiry.

The Faber Maunsell report finds that the Ennis to Galway leg of the project will be its most successful section, generating nearly half, or 43 per cent, of the total new business projected. A total of 234,000 new trips annually, or 750 new trips daily, would be made on the Iarnrod Éireann network as a result of the re-instatement of the Western Rail Corridor, the report states, rising to 945 trips per day by 2020 due to an expected 35 per cent increase in the population of Ennis and other towns in that time. Additional revenue of €2.15 million would be generated “based on the current fare structure”.

Deputy Breen said that, “the public disclosure . . . has brought a welcome measure of transparency to the project.

“So far the Western Rail Corridor has been big on headlines but short on detail which is a disservice to the taxpayer who will ultimately pay for this essential infrastructure. I am urging the Minister to immediately announce the first phase of the project so that its deadline of 2008 will be met.

“These projections reveal what has long been suspected, that at relatively little capital cost the transport infrastructure in the Mid-West can be developed significantly, and that it will be a resounding economic success. The €366 million price tag amounts to a little over 1 per cent of the €34 billion capital outlay for Transport 21.

“Before the first anniversary of that Transport 21 announcement in November, I am urging Minister Cullen to stop sitting on his hands and move ahead with this critical rail infrastructure plan immediately.”

The section of line north of Ennis has been closed to passenger traffic for almost 30 years although it was used for some time afterwards for freight.

CLARE General Election Candidate, Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG) has described as “highly suspicious”, the Government’s delay in reopening the railway line linking Ennis to Galway. She wants the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, to immediately clarify whether work on the line will commence in November, in line with a commitment given to her by Irish Rail, earlier this year.

“Barry Kenny, Irish Rail spokesman, made a commitment to me and to the people of Clare during a live radio debate on Clare FM, that work to reopen the railway line would commence ‘no later than the end of November 2006’. We are now in the first week of September and still the Government remains silent. It has not even sanctioned basic preparatory work on the track. What is behind the Government’s suspicious silence?

“On the 13th of August last, Minister Martin Cullen made an announcement that €360 million was to be spent upgrading the Kildare line to improve commuter services. He had an obvious opportunity on that occasion to confirm the reopening of the Ennis to Athenry stage of the Western Rail Corridor, but he chose not to. The people of Clare deserve to know why he chose not to.”

Cllr Taylor-Quinn said that the minister’s ability to effectively manage the introduction of Clare’s new rail service was in doubt, because of the ‘mess’ he was making of the Kildare expansion. Minister Cullen had prevented it from being extended a few miles, to service some of the country’s largest commuter towns.

“How can we trust the commitment of this Minister to the Western Rail Corridor, or his ability to deliver it? The Minister, who is presiding over a transport catastrophe on what is potentially the busiest commuter line in the country, is the minister we must depend on.

“It may be that in November, which happens to be the first anniversary of its farcical Transport 21 initiative, the Government will try to put a respectable shine on matters by giving the go-ahead to our railway line. The proper way to mark that anniversary would be to have work on the line well underway. It would also be to commit to examining the case for other railway stations serving new population centres on the Limerick – Ennis – Athenry line, like Sixmilebridge, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Crusheen and Gort. I strongly believe that there is a case for these new stations, as there is an absolutely critical case for the “spur” providing a rail service to and from Shannon Airport.”

A CLARE County Councillor has called for the inclusion of a railway station in Crusheen when the Government reopens the Western Rail Corridor.

Green Party Councillor Brian Meaney says, “There has been considerable development in Crusheen over the last number of years and further potential of the village could be realised in a sustainable manner, if a train stop is included in the rail improvement works.

“Latest Census figures show that Crusheen has had one of the largest increases in population in the county since the 2002 Census, with a massive 37.5 per cent increase in population.

“The 37.5 percent increase is on top of the increase in population in Crusheen since 1997.

“I believe the predicted usage of the Western Rail Corridor has been underestimated. A train stop in Crusheen would benefit all of the north east and north west of Clare and, with the development of a park and ride facility, this would reduce the pressure on the train station in Ennis,” Councillor Meaney said.

“Despite much media coverage and Government spin announcing funding for the upgrading of the train line, the decision to actually proceed is still pending.

“There have been positive announcements but, with the ongoing delay in starting the work, these are meaningless.

“The setting of false expectations such as these is part of the distrust in other promises made by this Government,” he added.

“It appears to me that the delay in announcing the start of the work on the rail line north of Ennis is being caused by political opportunism, again compromising delivery on infrastructure in the west,” Councillor Meaney said.

Councillor Meaney believes that opening up rail stops along the line from Limerick to Claremorris and Sligo will be key to full usage of the railway and will in time greatly meet Ireland’s obligation under the Kyoto Protocol.

NOT a single fine was imposed on people flouting Clare County Council’s new dogs ban over the summer months, it was confirmed yesterday.

The afternoon ban on dogs at beaches over the summer came to an end last Thursday and a council spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that, over the three months it was in place, not one fine was imposed on any individual with their dog on the beach.

She did confirm that one fine was imposed on an individual having his horse on Lahinch beach between 11am and 6pm each day.

She said, “The emphasis in the first year of the beach bye-laws was on awareness rather than enforcement. It was mainly tourists who would have been found with their dogs on the beach and, when they were told of the new law, they left the beach without any problem.”

The Council’s Director for the Environment, Ger Dollard, said, “In almost all cases where a breach of the bye-laws occurred, the matter was regularised when the individual involved was spoken to by council personnel.

“Where extreme circumstances required it, the council did resort to the fine issue. Generally the council is exceptionally pleased with the positive response of the public during the summer. There are areas for improvement, such as ensuring that the designated areas for surfing are fully adhered to, and we will be addressing these issues as part of the overall review.”

According to the bye-laws, those found on Clare’s beaches walking their dogs – even those on a lead – between 11am and 6pm – face onthe-spot fines of €125 and fines of €1,270 if cases go to court.

Member of the council’s Special Policy Committee (SPC) for the Environment, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said, “I welcomed the introduction and I hope that, next year, we will have the resources for the proper enforcement of the laws.”

One of the councillors opposed to the ban, Cllr Colm Wiley (FF) said, “The fact that not one fine was imposed shows that the new laws have not been enforced. The council have had no-one policing the ban on dogs and I was up in Lahinch six or seven times over the past three weeks and, on different days, I saw five, three and two dogs on the beach for upwards of half an hour at a time and no one approached the people concerned.”

THE principal of Scariff National School said yesterday that pupils have coped extremely well in their response to the death of 26-year-old circus performer, Vitaly Kharapavitski, last Monday night.

At the Royal Russian Circus performance last Monday, an audience of more than 300 people, with more than half young children, witnessed the Russian man dying instantly during a mid-air routine with his wife Sasha after a steel ball and metal cage collapsed on top of him.

Many of the 152 pupils that attend Scariff National School witnessed the tragedy and school principal, Martin Scanlan, said they coped extremely well and there was no serious need for the counselling services.

“I have three names of children that may avail of counselling, but I believe that it is unlikely that they will do so.”

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the HSE confirmed that its psychologist services have been made available to local primary schools as well as Scariff Community College.

A HSE spokeswoman said, “The Senior Clinical Psychologist has spoken to school principals and parish priest to outline the services which can be provided to the children if a need emerges. He has been in contact with the National Educational Psychology Service (NEPS), who will also be in a position to provide services if the need emerges.”

The father of two young children who witnessed last Monday night’s tragedy, Patrick Doyle, welcomed the services being made available by the HSE.

He said, “The kids might say ‘I’m okay’ to me, but at least with a counsellor, they may be more willing to talk about what happened.

“After it happened, I told my two children that ‘it’s a bad part of the act’ and left the tent…Everyone was stunned. There were kids crying leaving the tent and they were obviously traumatised.

“I never saw anything like it before. It was the suddenness of it. Everything came crashing down and I would say that the poor man died instantly from the impact. Everyone was in shock and I saw people coming out of the tent pure pale, with the blood drained from their faces.”

Local county councillor Joe Cooney said, “Scariff is a small rural parish and nothing like this has ever happened here. It is an awful tragedy and is very distressing for the children who witnessed the man’s death.”

THE show must go on for the 35 shocked staff of the Royal Russian Circus as they prepare for their first performance since the tragic death of their colleague in Scariff last week.

Vitaly Kharapavitski fell to his death as he performed the last trick in a comic air balloon act with his wife Sasha. More than 300 people, the majority of whom were children, witnessed the accident.

A spokesperson for the circus, Wayne Courtney, told The Clare People that performers risked their lives every time they stepped into the Big Top on show night.

The circus folk have not slept for nights as they have been coming to terms with the horrific death of the quiet and friendly performer, he added.

The tragic Belarusian joined the circus last April with his wife of just one year. The couple were making plans to take a year out to have a baby but, instead, on Sunday, Sasha along with grief-stricken family members, buried 26-year-old Vitaly in Minsk.

Back in Ennis, the late performer’s colleagues were setting up in the Showgrounds in Ennis and researching their acts in an attempt to overcome the trauma of the previous week.

“I would hate people to think that we didn’t care,” said General Manager and spokesperson for the circus, Mr Courtney, “But we have so many staff and we have all the animals to feed and care for.”

“It is the same as a factory or shop or any other business, you have to open up again.”

The Royal Russian Circus postponed the weekend shows scheduled for Ennis and are now preparing to open the Ennis performance on Thursday.

“The last few days have been like coming out of a haze. Nobody could sleep,” said Mr. Courtney.

“This is the first time they (circus staff) have experienced something like this. It has never happened in the living memory of any of the people here.”

“In my recollection, there have been broken bones but no fatalities.

“This is amazing when you take into account the number of dangerous acts.”

Mr Courtney said had the young performer fallen three or four seconds later he “would have been out of the position” and probably got away with a few broken bones.

The circus spokesperson said while no one was talking about their fears for the next performance, he was sure that the accident is playing on the minds of the other trapeze artists.

RESIDENTS of the Summerhill area in Ennis say they have been made “prisoners in their own homes” by the use of an open area at the rear of Charlie Stewart’s pub in nearby Parnell Street, as a dining area and beer garden.

Ennis Town Council has issued an enforcement notice requesting Charlie Stewarts, “to cease unauthorised use of the beer garden”.

In response to the pub failing to comply with the notice, the council has instituted legal proceedings against the pub.

The council acted after a strong objection from local residents, James and Mary McMahon, who were supported by neighbours in the Summerhill area.

The residents praised “Ennis Town council and An Bord Pleanala for their wise, consistent and far-sighted planning decisions.”

“We regret to say however that to date, they have been completely and utterly ignored and disregarded by the owners of this premises.

“The owners developed the site by fencing off a beer garden, erecting outdoor furniture to facilitate drinking and continued to use the fire exit as access for drinking and smoking.

“In acting such a manner, they have shown nothing but contempt for the planning process and procedures and have inflicted sheer hell on us, their nearest neighbours.

We have endured excessive noise from a large number of drinkers, shouting, foul language by day and night, all facilitated by use of the fire escape door.

“On weekdays, we have to endure daylong drinking sessions and a large-scale outdoor smoking area.

“In the Summertime, our back gardens are currently ‘out of bounds’. We cannot enjoy a bit of sun or fresh air without being subjected to the patrons of Charlie Stewarts.”

They say a decision to grant retention to Charlie Stewart’s planning application “would be to perpetuate this absolute torture on us on a permanent basis.

“We are prisoners in our homes, we are deprived of the proper use and enjoyment of our back gardens.”

Last month, Ennis Town Council refused planning permission to Cyril Cusack, Tony Enright, Kieran Gleeson and Gerry Collins to retain the daytime use of a yard, to the rear of Parnell Street.

The four have now appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala stating, “the proposed development consists simply of a small area of yard, which had been utilised during the good weather for external dining.

“It is confirmed, however, that this is not being used at night times for public bar use or beer garden use.”

THERE is a crisis in Clare’s rural schools.

That’s according to Chairman of Rural Resettlement Ireland Jim Connolly who claims that many schools in Clare and across the country are in danger of closing due to population decline and bad planning practices.

“Planning refusals that the RRI have received from Clare County Council have put schools in danger,” he said.

The outspoken Kilbaha man said that families were being refused planning permission by Clare County Council, just as Rural Resettlement Ireland had been.

He said he has been approached by a number of schools in the county who are struggling to keep their doors open to the community they represent, as pupil numbers rapidly decline.

Mr Connolly pointed to the success story in Tullycrine National School, where RRI secured planning permission for four houses.

“We expect to have four new families in Tullycrine for next year,” he said.

Two junior infants joined the west Clare school already this month as well as one other student. That brings to 14 the current pupil population.

School Principal Mary Lynch said she was delighted with this year’s additional pupils as it secured the second teacher for at least two more years.

Meanwhile Baltard National School close to the White Strand in Doonbeg had just one new pupil joining this year.

The local community is anxious that the one teacher school remains open.

The board of management said it was hopping that houses being built by RRI would produce young families, otherwise the school was in danger of closing.

The board maintains that smaller schools are a huge advantage to both mainstream and special needs children as it allows one on one tuition.

It also allows the teacher give special attention to a child who may need special help with a specific subject.

The small school received the prestigious DEIS (Delivering Equality of opportunity in Schools) award last year, one of only 100 rural schools ever to do so.

Meanwhile as some schools campaign about over crowding RRI continues to relocate young families into rural areas in danger of having their school closed.

“Nobody can be forced to send their children to any particular school. All we can do is introduce families to different schools after that it is a parental decision,” said Mr Connolly.

RRI helped to relocated nine families already this year.

“You either develop of die,” warned the RRI chairman. “And you can’t develop without people.”